Maddy and Mark have given eternal vows of love and faith in the beautiful Athens. Τhe colors that dominated the decoration were green and gold! The dessert table was a beautiful centerpiece of the event decorated with golden trays and accents, and a beautiful white cake balls garnished with edible gold leaf. Very impressive was the bride with her lovely wedding dress where she was from lace, with sequins, and tulle! Enjoy a marriage that emits positive energy!
From the groom: “Mark and Maddy met through a mutual friend on a cool day in the fall of 2012. In the days following their initial introduction, while Mark was still working up the courage to ask Maddy out, he received a message from Maddy who noticed they had a shared birthday. Icebreaker in hand, Mark asked Maddy out on what would become the first of many dates.”
From the bride: “We live in New York City, and something we have in common is our shared love of good food. New York is one of the best places in the world for excellent restaurants! Mark always has fun picking out which restaurant we will try next, and for an upcoming date night he made dinner reservations for us at the famously romantic New York City restaurant One If By Land. It is a classic restaurant in a historic carriage house. I was so excited for the food, and I was completely surprised when he proposed to me after dinner! Of course I said yes. We were both so elated we couldn’t sleep, so at 2 a.m I made us homemade pizza. We didn’t necessarily need more food after our meal, but it was a fun excuse to stay up late.”
“The ceremony took place in….The sky! Or, at least it felt like we were in the sky. Our ceremony and reception venue was a private residence with rooftop terrace in Athens, Greece. The views were panoramic, and included the sea, the mountains, and the Acropolis. When I came out of the bridal suite and saw our fully decorated venue for the first time, I literally burst into tears and gave our planner Katerina the biggest hug. I couldn’t believe my wedding was so gorgeous! It was jaw-dropping. As a bride-to-be, I found inspiration everywhere! Pinterest was a big source of inspiration, but at times I had to step back to avoid bridal overload because it can be overwhelming to have so many ideas at your fingertips. The best moment of your wedding was… choosing our friend Jessica to officiate was one of the best moments of the wedding. She did an amazing job and it was a really special experience for us.”
“From the start, we wanted our wedding to be a far-away adventure. The inspiration for Greece originated from the Astoria neighborhood where we live in New York (big Greek community), and when we made a list of important components of a destination wedding, things lined up and we realized Greece made a lot of sense. For example, it is a timeless destination, and it is easy to get to. In fact, it is logistically easier to get to than many places in the USA. Our goal was no more than two modes of transport needed, as to not overwhelm guests. This is how we decided Athens, it was a simple cab ride from the airport. Also, the climate is perfect, which meant no real need to worry about a rain plan. Last but not least, the food!! The Mediterranean is known for the best fresh, delicious flavors. There was a lot of excitement for the food in the months leading up to the trip, our friends often told us how much they were looking forward to it. Overall, we are so happy with our destination choice. In fact, we like to joke with our friends that our 10 year wedding anniversary will be another destination event in Greece.”
“It was a relaxed wedding with a modern “less is more” theme, and our decor colors were green and gold. It was a top priority for us to make sure our guests had fun, and were comfortable. They traveled halfway around the world for us, after all! The florist hand selected a bouquet of bouquet of peonies to match the dress of the Bride and the décor.”
“A major aspect of our decoration was our rooftop venue, which had beautiful panoramic views of Athens from the sea to the mountains. Our wedding planner Katerina did a fantastic job keeping focus on the wonderful views, with the other decorations playing a supporting role. It was modern minimalism with greenery and gold, and our dessert table was a beautiful centerpiece of the event. It was decorated with leafy greenery, jars of koufetta, golden trays and accents, and beautiful white cake balls (which I made myself!) garnished with edible gold leaf. Another focal point was our chuppah, which was a minimalist industrial copper pipe frame, decorated with leafy asymmetrical greenery. We had a few lounge areas inside with white modern furniture and matching floral arrangements. A friend of ours also surprised us by decorating the cement mantle with complementary asymmetrical greenery. Everything came together beautifully! We made a big effort to find vendors who were on board with our vision, and we really tried to empower everyone creatively. The payoff was terrific–everyone did a fantastic job.”
“My wedding dress…mermaid gown with lace, sequins, and tulle. I wish I could wear it again!”
“We waited until it was almost to late to have a wedding planner. We say all the time we are so glad we hired Katerina, her team was money well spent. I would advise other destination brides to consider a wedding planner from the start because the time and stress it will save is priceless!”
Leave a Reply